In 2000, Prof. Robert Putnam released a book that made the headlines, called Bowling Alone, The Collapse and Revival of American Community. In a nutshell, it discusses how Americans have become less connected from family, friends, neighbors and their communities. Bridge clubs and bowling leagues had been replaced by crickets and tumbleweed. We had experienced a loss in “social capital,” or connections among individuals, impoverishing lives and communities. At the core of social capital theory is the idea that social networks have value, both personally and for society as a whole.
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No sooner did Silicon Valley astutely observe and capitalize on this phenomena (and cultural void), birthing wildly popular social networking sites such as Friendster, Facebook and MySpace.com. But even in their social savvy, technology investors missed something that now they are fully waking up to…boomers want online social networks too. And unlike their youthful counterparts, the 42+ will be far less likely to leap frog from one site to another in search of the latest fad. They are “sticky,” according to Matt Richtel in his recent piece “New Social Sites Cater to People of a Certain Age,” and are online in droves (8 out of 10 boomers use the Internet regularly).
They want sites where fellow visitors have longer attention spans, where they can grow a garden of strong and lasting relationships, and discuss everything from their new grandchild, to their old marriage with likeminded individuals going through similar experiences.
We know about Eons and Rezoom …but where are the other players? Is there a “Gramazon.com” to be found? There’s a big wide open space out there still…untouched, wild digital plains where older adults want to mingle. Just clear away the cobwebs, shoe away the crickets and toss out the tumbleweed. They’ll come and they’ll stay for awhile…
Amanda Sobanet
Comments (2)
I didn't finish Bowling Alone, but I read part of it and really enjoyed what I did read.
It's worth pointing out that Bowling Alone was one book that inspired MeetUp.com. The idea to the site is that social networks are important, but not necessarily of the online variety. Online tools can and should be used to being like-minded individuals together to actually interact offline. In other words, use MeetUp to meet fellow bowlers in New York City and Bowl Together!
There's no Gramazon.com that I know of, but there is a Grandparents.com (I'm a member of the team there)...
Posted by Matt | October 3, 2007 11:09 AM
Posted on October 3, 2007 11:09
Actually, there are a ton of 50-plus social networking sites besides the few mentioned in the article, and it seems like new ones are popping up everyday. A few of them are:
It will be interesting to see who makes it, especially given Eons' recent round of layoffs, and their refocusing on the social networking aspects of their site rather than original content.
Posted by Jonathan Boehman | October 3, 2007 11:53 AM
Posted on October 3, 2007 11:53